Rethinking Church in the 21st Century

Advent

Nativity scenes crack me up. No, there’s nothing inherently funny about them, and I recognize and honor the symbolic appeal and power they have, but having visited farm and village sites in Israel that are still essentially pre-modern, and knowing what stables look, feel, and smell like in general, I […]

I often hear a rumor, unsubstantiated (though with impressive evidence), that many adults no longer believe in Santa Claus. Oh, many profess to believe in the “spirit” or “essence” of Saint Nicholas, but to believe in the real, physical, meat-and-potatoes jolly old fat man is no longer acceptable among the […]

Here is a sermon Barbara and I delivered at the Hudson UMC on December 4: (sorry about the formatting) Dan Oh, man, I cannot believe it is December already! This year has just flown by. Barbara I know, and it isn’t going to get any better. I have two projects that absolutely MUST […]

We frequent and traditional church-goers can sometimes forget that Christmas is not a joyous and wonderful time for all concerned. In my own ministry, I dealt with two Christmas suicides, and numerous individuals for whom Christmas brought sorrow and deep loss. In one of the New Jersey churches I served, […]

Twenty years ago, I was given a wonderful opportunity. A Vanderbilt seminary professor took ill and I was asked to fill in for almost five weeks in a class that explored, among other things, the liturgical year. It was one of the most freeing and enjoyable experiences of my life. […]

Ah, another Advent. The pressing question is: are we ready? Or maybe the pressing question is: do we even care? Our United Methodist Church can’t seem to be bothered with preparing for a Savior; we are too busy focusing on divisive issues of morality grounded in abominable biblical misinterpretation and […]

Come on, people, is this any way for Christians to act? Do we live in a dangerous world? Yes. Are there people out there — of many faiths, colors, races, ethnicities, creeds, etc. — who are committed to doing harm? Yes. Are there overwhelming needs locally as well as globally? […]